Dahon.Steve

Your situation is out of the ordinary. There are very few people who are camping to catch a train the next day!

Usually, those with bikes on trains live within 10 miles or less of the station. Those using light rail or subway are often closer to their final destination.

In a city with effective transit, the multimode commuter is at a huge advantage. Even with a hub an spoke system, the bicycle enables you to reach all points within a 5 mile radius in minutes. I'm just amazed more people don't take advantage of this. Quite frankly, I'm not complaining for if everyone boarded the train with a full size bike, I would never get on. :-)

tandempower

Money/cost is a factor. I could pay to fly from the local airport to the international airport to catch an international flight, but that would cost more than taking a bus or driving, let alone biking. If I wanted to drive, I would have to buy or rent a car and go through everything I would go through casting my vote for the automotive culture, which would be horrible, so I'm going to struggle with the alternatives, but then if you're going to take a bus that requires an overnight stay, your options are to pay a fair amount of money to stay in a terrible motel, or pay a lot of money to stay in a better hotel, which imo is still not as nice as sleeping in a tent in the woods. So there might not be many people who grasp the simple comfort of sleeping in a tent in the woods, but that's because they've bought into the aesthetic of a hotel/motel room as something desirable, instead of as a shared room similar to sharing clothing or other intimate items that aren't yours. Imo, a lot of people are just blinded by cultural assumptions and norms and so society doesn't evolve into what I would expect it to if everyone perceived things as they are, but if I say this there will be people who swoop in and accuse me of expressing opinions that are simply different than the mainstream, and they will defend the mainstream as a set of opinions that are equally or more valid without regard for the irrationalities built into them.

Walter S

Count me in that rare group. I've taken several tours where a train was a leg, and not the start of the trip. In each case I camped near the train station (within 20-30 miles) and showed up in the a.m. with my bicycle to board the train. I road Amtrak and put the bicycle in a box at the station (which provided the box as well).

Robert C

I do this frequently In Salt Lake. I will ride the local heavy rail to the end of the line, then to Lake Utah, then back to Salt Lake. It will take a full day. If a loop around Utah Lake is included it takes two days.

The biggest trouble with using AMTRAK for trips is that there are so few stations (in the West of the country) that allow bikes. It is definitely the exception rather than the rule.

cooker

Which parts are train and which are bike?

Walter S

I thought they were always allowed if in a bicycle box at a station that has baggage claim. Granted the later requirement counts a LOT of stations out.

Robert C

in the west it lets almost all stations out.

Robert C

Front-runner (local heavy rail) to Provo, then cycle to Lake Utah, then ride the bike trail back. The bike trail is almost entirely complete with only a few small sections of dirt and roadway. in all, it is about 80 miles. Riding around Utah lake adds about another 70 miles.

Another route is to take the front-runner north to Ogden and then catch the bike trail in Roy and ride back. That way is about 70 miles of cycling.

indyfabz

It's no better in the east. It's nearly impossible on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak's busiest. The best it gets is the once daily Vermonter, which has roll-on service at all stations between D.C. and St. Albans, VT, but there is only room for three bikes. The Capitol Limited, between D.C. and Chicago, recently started roll-on service due to high demand from people riding the GAP and C&O trails, but heading north/west, the train gets into Pittsburgh around midnight, assuming it's on time. People often start the GAP in Pittsburgh and ride that and the C&O to D.C. IIRC, there is only space for 5 bikes.

Walter S

You can always go with the bike in a box at stations with baggage claim which are frequent in the east.

indyfabz

Not frequent on the Northeast Corridor.